Gerrard labours to stop Spurs joining the upper classes

Monday 1 January 2007 17.22 EST
First published on Monday 1 January 2007 17.22 EST

This was an opportunity for Tottenham to smash through the glass ceiling and leave Liverpool picking shards of glass out of their wounds. In the event the game showed that bursting into the elite is not necessarily about comparing skills and sophistication with a leading club. Saturday's match called more for doggedness as the winter rain mounted its onslaught on the White Hart Lane surface.

Liverpool, with an eighth clean sheet in nine Premiership fixtures, were the masters of durability. Martin Jol thought Spurs improved enough after the interval to have been worth a draw and they were on the verge of it when Liverpool's Steve Finnan headed a cross from the substitute Dimitar Berbatov against his own bar. Hossam Ghaly certainly ought to have equalised instead of bundling a loose ball wide soon afterwards.

None the less, Liverpool had played to a more dependable standard all afternoon. There was a humility about them, with Steven Gerrard disregarding his MBE and acting like a member of the labouring classes as he worked busily in the mud. In addition Jamie Carragher, competitive and resourceful, did more than anyone to stymie a Spurs comeback.

Liverpool, who engage with Bolton at Anfield today, have cohered too late to challenge for the title but current form has earned them the right to think aloud about the Champions League. "Hopefully we are warming up for Barcelona," said Dirk Kuyt of the last-16 tie. The Dutchman showed all his brightness and mobility here even if he, like the equally lively Craig Bellamy, has not scored regularly enough.

Spurs were aided when the latter was taken off as a precautionary measure because of a tight hamstring, but the damage had been done by then and Jol's side had inflicted it on themselves. It was unforgivable of Didier Zokora to gift the ball to Gerrard so near the penalty area and the Liverpool captain's attempt then broke to Luis García, who finished from close range.

There had been a fatigue-tinted carelessness about Spurs before the interval, with the 20-year-old Tom Huddlestone starting to realise the disadvantages of being a first-team regular, but the midfielder rallied thereafter and so did the players around him, even though the line-up was not at its strongest.

Ledley King was absent with a bruised toe which is expected to keep him out of today's fixture at Fratton Park, and Robbie Keane's unpredictability continues to be missed. Aaron Lennon will not take part at Portsmouth either. Spurs are protective of a youngster who came back quickly from knee surgery and then experienced a build-up of fluid on the joint. It must be questionable whether they will risk him in next Sunday's FA Cup tie at Cardiff City.

At least Jol should have Berbatov available from the start to face Portsmouth, who will be one of Spurs' rivals for Uefa Cup qualification. Illness had stoked the Bulgarian's temperature to 39.7C on Friday and it was surprising that he could look as if he was on fire in a different sense when he came off the bench to vex the Liverpool defence. Before that Mido, pressed into service, had appeared as lacking in fitness as the manager knew him to be.

Everyone will need to be hale at Portsmouth, who were beaten by Spurs in October when Zokora dived to secure a penalty. "They will want to take revenge," agreed Jol. He was affable despite this defeat, smiling at a mention of the former White Hart Lane employees now on the books of this afternoon's opponents: "Their good players are probably from London."

Portsmouth should be fresher because Spurs have now completed 30 matches since mid-August. The workload has been expanded by good runs in both the Carling Cup and the Uefa Cup and Jol, reflecting on only four defeats in the past 24 fixtures, believes his squad is adapting to the packed schedule that comes with a degree of success.

The manager went much too far in acclaiming 2006 as "the best year Spurs ever had" but getting into Europe through league position is an experience unfamiliar to many in the White Hart Lane crowd. Jol did try to protect himself against the expectations of that audience by positioning real achievement somewhere in the blurred distance. "In a couple of years' time when all our players like Huddlestone, Dawson and Jermain [Defoe] develop into top players we could maybe go for a Champions League," he suggested.

Liverpool, now six points in front of Spurs, have a more pressing agenda. In view of the late contretemps in which Gerrard raised his hand to Calum Davenport, Rafael Benítez can at least be reassured that the squad is not jaded.